I have a mid 80's house w/aluminum windows (Alenco windows, I think). They have so many failed thermopanes that I thought it's time to replace them. Unfortunately they're dark bronze color and the trim on the house is a sort of almond and includes vinyl soffit and aluminum fascia the same color.

Are my options to replace the glazing (possibly 18 panes out of 11 windows, so almost all of them) or to pay a lot for almond colored vinyl? Anyone do white windows with different colored trim and have it look OK?

Or, is anyone making aluminum windows that would make sense to use?

This is a rental property and while I want to keep it reasonably nice, I'm not looking to spend any more than necessary...

The price will vary by manufacturer and by dealer, but you'll probably see a charge that varies somewhere between $15-$50 to upgrade to an almond extrusion (almond vinyl). If otoh, you want something like an almond exterior with a white interior, that necessitates a paint coating for most manufacturers, and would be more in the ballpark of $100, give or take.

What color is the body of the house? Sometimes the white tends to be a little to bright for me, but I personally don't care for white for any exterior color. Some companies offer an exterior foil colors in bronze and and sandstone, others offer driftwood extrusions. These run around 20% or less over the base price of the window. Typically you would have to shop some different brands to get the different color options,this is one of the reasons many here sell more then 1 or 2 line of windows.

As you can see, they're not trimmed out and only on the front are they set off with the pseudo shutters. I thought to just cut the cedar siding around the window to the exact dimension that would allow brickmold or some other trim. Then I'd be able to remove the windows, flange and all and set new-construction windows back in with window seal and trim.

I don't think white will look good here. I haven't had time to call about other colors yet. The only guy I'd talked to was quoting Simonton profinish contractor window. I'm a carpenter and I'll be the installer.

I can see it. .... The color is really just personal preference. Is your trim white or off-white? If it is already white, I would not see any problem using a white exterior for the window, but again, that is really up to your personal taste.

Are you removing or replacing the shutters? Are you going to be changing the color of the trim on the house?I agree with Homesealed on the colors even though I don't like white. I would look at upgrading the windows to Simonton's Prism Platinum or 9800 series if possible(get the sash re-enforcement upgrade). Ply-Gem has some nice color options as well, stick with their top series as well. What other brands of windows are available to you?

As usual my life is too busy and I'm just now getting back to this. I was leaning towards replacing just the glass, but I'm changing my mind and leaning towards the increased home value that the vinyl windows would give.

So here's my latest question...The house is 1x8 bevel cedar sided and I'm intending to cut back the siding enough to get to the original aluminum window flanges as well as install new construction windows w/flange. This means I'd need to add trim around the window to cover the flange and close the gap to the siding.

Does that sound like the easier way to go or would I be better stripping back the siding and re-installing it? (It's semi-transparent stained so there's no horizontal caulking between siding boards to deal with.)

Most of the windows I've seen so far have a brick mold-ish trim profile and J-channel that doesn't lend itself to additional trim. The Atrium windows have a no-J-Channel option but it still includes the molding profile.To cover the flange I'll have to trim it out with something further which leaves the manufacturer molding profile and whatever molding I choose added on to it. Seems it would look kind of clunky.

By stripping the siding back and using a no-J-channel style window, I think the look would be better but it adds a lot of work to strip that siding back...

How would you guys approach this? I do have an inexpensive helper who is capable of stripping the siding back carefully, I think. Just in typing this out, I'm thinking it would be worth stripping the siding back as it would also eliminate the need for additional trim. I imagine plenty of other manufacturers have a no-J-Channel option, but what's the opinion of Atrium windows here?

If your existing siding is cedar you don't want j-channel, whether it is built-in or not. Cut back the cedar, remove the flanged window, install a new (high quality) flanged window, and add new cedar or composite trim around the openings to fill the cut back space. Proper flashing detail is essential... Removing and re-installing the siding so that it can butt against the new window frame is more work than is necessary, and ends up in a cheaper look IMO.

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